Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

American Studies and Ethnicity

Undergraduate Degrees

Bachelor of Arts, American Studies and Ethnicity (African American Studies)

African American Studies is a multidisciplinary program designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the historical, cultural, social and political experience of African Americans, with a particular emphasis on the development and culture of the African American communities in California and the West as well as on both historical and contemporary effects of global issues on African American communities. By drawing upon courses in American Studies and Ethnicity and by emphasizing comparative as well as interdisciplinary study, this program offers training in the analytic tools and methods of interpretation appropriate for studying the African American experience in its particularity and ethnic and cultural study in general. The program is particularly appropriate for students interested in ­integrating studies in the humanities and social sciences and for students preparing to work and interact with diverse communities and cultures in the United States and abroad in such fields as education, human services, business, journalism and public administration.

African American Studies is administered by an executive committee comprising the chair, directors of the four majors and other faculty members. In addition to the college academic adviser, the directors of the majors serve as advisers to majors and minors, providing, in conjunction with the sequence of courses, the opportunity for students to undertake an interdisciplinary concentration under close faculty supervision. It is recommended that students meet with the appropriate major director to plan a coherent set of courses to fulfill the major or minor requirements.

Program Major Requirements

Ten courses in African American Studies, or courses certified for African American Studies credit, are required. The 10 courses must be distributed as follows: the three core requirement courses of AMST 200, AMST 350 and AMST 498; one course from each of the following three lists: History, Literature and Culture, and ­Social and ­Political Issues; and additional elective courses for a total of 16 units chosen from the courses certified in African American Studies at the 300 level or above.

Core Requirements

Units

AMST 200

Introduction to American Studies and Ethnicity

4

AMST 350

Junior Seminar in American Studies and Ethnicity: Theories and Methods

4

AMST 498*

Senior Seminar in American Studies and Ethnicity

4

*Honors students will substitute AMST 492 Research Methods in American Studies and Ethnicity.

200/300/400-Level Required Courses

Units

One course from each of the following categories:

History

AMST 250

The African Diaspora

4

HIST 355

The African-American Experience

4

HIST 455

Advanced Topics in African-American History

4

Literature and Culture

AHIS 365

African American Art

4

AHIS 475

Blackness in American Visual Culture

4

AMST 285

African American Popular Culture

4

AMST 385

African American Culture and Society

4

CTCS 407

African American Cinema

4

ENGL 446

African-American Poetry and Drama

4

ENGL 447

African-American Narrative

4

Social and Political Issues

AMST 101

Race and Class in Los Angeles

4

AMST 206

The Politics and Culture of the 1960s

4

AMST 274

Exploring Ethnicity through Film

4

AMST 330

Black Music and the Political Imagination

4

AMST 348

Race and Environmentalism

4

AMST 365

Leadership in the Community — Internship

4

AMST 389

Carceral Geographies

4

AMST 395

African American Humor and Culture

4

AMST 466

The Psychology of African Americans

4

POSC 421

Ethnic Politics

4

POSC 427

Black Politics in the American Political System

4

PSYC 462

Minority Mental Health

4

REL 469

Black Religion in America

4

upper-division elective courses

units

Additional courses for a total of 16 units from the lists above or below, or other American Studies and Ethnicity courses with the approval of the African American Studies director, 300 level or higher. No more than two total courses in the major may be taken outside the college.